52 Dodge wayfarrer

[Maurice]

Hello all. I am building my engine for my Dodge Wayfarrer L230ci ... I was told when redoing my head I do NOT need to worry about hardfacing my my valve seats and valves. Is this true? Also, what color did Dodge paint their engines and transmissions '52. The car was black if that makes a difference.

[Jon Robinson]

Maurice:

You never know when they're going to do to us on the content of gasoline. While normal driving won't hurt the valves, you never know when you'll be driving over the Rockies or Sierras at 65 MPH, and it's nice to know you can at will.

I highly recommened hardened valve seats and stellite or stainless steel valves. So many of these Chrysler sixes run on propane in equpment that the valves are easily available for not too much. One good source is Terrill Machine in DeLeon, Texas. (254) 893-2610

Stellite or stainless valves don't expand with the kind of heat the engine throws at them, and they don't wear against the valve guides as much. They also don't expand in length as much when hot, and don't accidentally become too tight against the lifter.

Also, there are by-the-book people who will disagree with this, but set all 12 valves at .015, and let them click. It won't hurt a thing, and you won't have to worry about them sinking on you. Drive the engine about 1,000 miles, and check the valves. If you use the stellite valves, you'll probably find the valves haven't changed in adjustment at all.

One little warning. A lot of the old manuals say to set the piston ring gap at .007. This is way to small, and I suspect this was a misprint that wound up in a lot of manuals. It was probably suppsed to read .017. A good rule-of-thumb is .020. It's really common to find shattered rings on these old Chrysler sixes, and I think this misprint is the culprit. I followed this .007 misprint once paid for it with a ruined engine.

People in these forums are probably tired of hearing me brag that my 1950 DeSoto has covered 130,000 miles in the last 12 years with about 30,000 miles of that racked up on trips across the country. I live in the Desert Southwest, and I don't worry about climbing steep grades in the summer with the hard valves.

My car is all stock except for a '57 Dodge rear end that I installed without altering the car at all. The rear end lowered the RPM by 15% and made a huge difference in strain and fuel economy at highway speeds.

Go with the hard valves, and have no worries.

JON

[Jon Robinson]

Woops. I forgot to answer your question about engine color.

All these old Chrylser Corporation sixes were a bright silver. Go to an auto parts store, and look for high-tempterature aluminum color. The air filter, oil cap, oil fill tube, generator bracket, and draft tube should all be gloss black.

Try to paint the engine before you put it together. All the bolts and freeze plugs will be their natural color, and you'll be able to see the edges of the gaskets. It makes for a much neater, professional look.

JON

[Jon Robinson]

Woops Number Two:

The bell housing and transmission should be bright aluminum as well.

I guess I should refer back to the original question more often while answering.

JON

[John B.]

My grandfather purchased a new 1952 Dodge Regent in 1953. Flathead 6. I have the car now. Engine has always been blue with black accessories.

John B.